New year, a new attitude....... maybe?
What need you, being come to sense,
But fumble in a greasy till
And add the halfpence to the pence
And prayer to shivering prayer, until
You have dried the marrow from the bone;
For men were born to pray and save?
Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,
It's with O'Leary in the grave. .
But fumble in a greasy till
And add the halfpence to the pence
And prayer to shivering prayer, until
You have dried the marrow from the bone;
For men were born to pray and save?
Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,
It's with O'Leary in the grave. .
This is a verse from W.B Yeats famous poem “September 1913” it
was published in the Irish times in 1913. In this poem he demonstrates his
disillusion with Ireland, he believes her people to have lost their way, and
there are no hero’s left. Funnily it was published just under three years
before the 1916 rising.
I found myself reflecting upon this poem, when I read Tim Pat
Coogan's opinion in the Irish Times "Commemorating 1916 : We need to
rekindle a spirit of idealism". The main theme that stuck with me was the
disillusionment of the Irish people.
Why you may ask is this being discussed in the blog of a lowly
Irish EVS volunteer who is currently living in the out stretches of Eastern
Europe. Well I considered myself to be one of Ireland's modern disillusioned
youth. This disenchantment with our society is what led me to quit fumbling in
a greasy till, adding prayer to shivering prayer that our people and our
leaders will finally take decisive actions and responsibility. That they would
encourage creativity that once made our country great. As a member of this
society I tried to take action in my own way. I joined various creative and
start-up groups. But even among likeminded people who were actively trying to
create a new attitude and outlook for Ireland often frustration won out. The
belief that the rudder of our country was not ours to hold but that of people who took our tax money and demanded more.
So here I am in Northern Romania , working with the YMCA where I
use my skills to engage and encourage the local youth. My daily tasks involve
creating activities and events to achieve the goals of the YMCA. I find myself
motivated now, the work gives me satisfaction and I am receiving as much if not more than I give! This is far away from the frustration and disillusionment that had
seeped into my daily life. The wealth we have created with our events and
activities is great, intangible and constantly achieving great returns and
their impact is far reaching. The results we achieve cannot be measured , a happier community cannot be summed up with pounds, shillings and pense. Working in this environment has rekindled my energy
and idealism. And maybe this is the moral of my blog post. I left a society
that was fumbling with its greasy penny’s and sometimes we need to forget these
simple measures of success and create something that cannot be measured.
Perhaps it will be when we leave behind the constant measurement and examination
of outcomes the disillusionment will end.
Soon I will be home and I will reactivate my role in society.
But what will have changed is my energy and enthusiasm. I can overcome the cynicism and frustration.
As they say “a change is as good as a rest”. My change in environment is
teaching me many things and I believe that I and many others like me will pry
the rudder from those who hold it now and will control the course of our future
and that of our country's.
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